Craig's Pain
by FurlessCat
Summary: [PG-13 for right now]
1. Do my ears decieve me?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or the characters in it**

**What if Craig hadn't moved out of his dad's...or told anyone of the pain he lived through every day...**

Craig slowly peeled the freshly dried scab off his lower lip, drawing blood forth once again. He looked down at the fleck of newly formed flesh in his hand, his crimson tipped fingers. He could taste copper, and he ran his tongue over the split in his pouty lip. He dazedly scanned his room. The door was shut and locked, from the outside. Signs of a struggle were evident in the strewn about papers and clothes on the floor. But seeing as he was 15, most people would just assume it was from teenage laziness.

A quick pounding from downstairs brought him whipping his head to the door, his muscles tensed and stood taut over his bare torso. His ropey muscles bulging out , running the length of his lanky body. After a few minutes of breathless silence, he let loose his caught up breath, along with a small sob. His body began to shake, and his teeth echoed with their chattering. He roughly wiped away a traitor tear and took a couple deep breaths.

This was his fault. He had been the one to stay out too late. He had broken curfew. He deserved to be punished. He deserved the heated areas of swollen flesh on his body. They were there to tell him that he had screwed up. He had done wrong.

He roaved over his bare torso with his gray eyes, noticing each new bruise with a sick fascination. He slowly and gently rolled his waistline down a couple inches to reveal the most painful bruise. It wrapped neatly around his pelvic bone in a boomerang shape and shone a deep purple. His fingers grazed the poofy area and he quickly hissed in a breath.

He turned from his mistakes and looked at the clock, it was already two in the morning. He decided that sleep would be the only medicene to take the pain away. At least a good temporary relief, and slowly backed onto his bed. He kicked around with the royal blue comfortor for awhile, and punched the pillow a few times, before finally clicking off his bedside lamp, and closing his eyes.

* * *

"Craig!"

The teen twitched and turned his face deeper into his pillow, breathing in deeply. Reluctantly he rolled away from the comfort of his blankets, and set his bare feet on the floor. His head drooping and eyes still closed, he stood and stumbled to the door.

"I'm coming!" He shouted through the door. His eyes opened slowly, trying to rid them of morning crust with one hand, he attempted to open the door with the other. It clicked open smoothly. He sighed, and turned back to his room.

Quickly he retrieved a grey shirt from his mess, and pulled it over his chilled skin. He slipped his worn black chucks on swiftly, and grabbed his side bag and camera bag. Then hurried out his room, accidently slamming the door behind him.

He traveled down the hall and stairs swiftly, reaching the bottom floor right as his dad walked out of the kitchen.

He was shot with a look of annoyance.

"Why did you slam the door?"

Craig stood with his mouth slightly open and a vulnerable look on his face.

"I..I didn't mean to...it was a-an accident." He clung tightly to the stair banister, his palms sweating.

His dad looked at him angrily for a second, then abrubtly his face fell. He rubbed his hair back with a shaking hand.

"Whatever, go get in the car, you're going to be late for school."

The boy stumbled past his father, breathing quickly, and went to the car out front.

His dad stood still for a moment, ashamed of the fear he saw on his son's face whenever he asked him something. He took a deep breath and decided not to blame himself. He was a very stressed man, an ER surgeon, with a lot on his mind. He straightened his tie and turned to the front door.

"Damn kid."

* * *

"So we still on for tonight?" The dirty blonde labeled as Craig's best friend asked.

Craig looked up from his paper, he shook his head a little, unsure of what to say.

"I-I don't know man...I mean, I got busted last night for being out t-too late. I think my dad would k-kill me if I got caught again." He reluctantly looked back down at his worksheet. Sean sighed angrily.

"Dude, we've been planning this for two weeks! My bro already got us the booze, this party is for you, do you understand? I'm not gonna let you ruin it by not showing up."

"Mr. Bannon, Mr. Manning, do you two have something you want to share with the rest of us?" Ms. Kwan gazed at them with evil eyes. Both boys shook their heads and mumbled apologies.

Sean looked back at Craig, who wouldn't let his eyes leave his page. His dark curls were getting long, and slightly obscured his face. Sean sighed again, but decided to wait til later to bring up their plans again.

* * *

Craig fumbled with his bag, trying to put his camera back before the object of his dreams realized what he was doing.

Too late. "Hey Craig, what're you doing?" Ashley's black lockes stopped right above her finely shaped eyebrows, putting more focus on the ocean-blue of her eyes.

Craig smiled stupidly, finally slipping his camera away. He swung the little bag back on his shoulder and tried his best to look charming.

"Oh hey Ash, I was just...you know, getting ready to g-go home."

She smiled back at him, setting his heart aflutter. Flirtasiously she slid one of her hands from his shoulder down to grasp onto his hand. She tilted her head closer to him, for more privacy, the halls of Degrassi were full of wicked little ears that just loved to shout out what was said between two individuals.

"So am I invited to the party tonight? I heard Sean talking about it...sounds like it's gonna be fun."

Craig choked on his words, coughing and forcing Ashley to pull away. She frowned, her eyebrows creasing her lovely face.

"Are you ok?" She placed a slender hand on the back of his neck, forcing his eyes to meet hers. He froze, his mouth ajar. He couldnt' believe how beautiful she was...and her touch heated his body. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine...I-I was gonna go tonight..but..:

"Isn't it your party?" she interrupted.

Craig couldn't resist her smooth face and pale complexion backed brilliantly with black.

"Of course, it's my party. yeah. I'll be there, and I'll save a spot for you." He winked, thinking he was the hottest thing in the world at the moment, why else would a girl so magnificent be talking to him.

Ashley laughed a little at his change in mood. Then shouldered her bag.

"Great, I'll see you at Sean's tonight then." Before leaving she leaned in and kissed his cheek. It was so fast that no one passing by would have noticed. But for Craig it was an eternity of tingling. His frozen form stayed for another five minutes by his locker, his backpack forgotten by his feet. Slowly he reached down for his bag and turned to look the way Ashley had gone. A grin split his face in two, his cheeks burned with emotion. All his doubts about the party were gone, taken away on the lips of the most beautiful girl in the world.

* * *

AN: Please review, and tell me if you liked or didn't like, and if you did, well then I'll post some more:D


	2. It's like that time

Craig walked through the front door, full of energy. There was a bound in his step, and a grin on his face. He didn't even notice that his dad was already home and sitting at the dining room table.

"Craig, could you please come here, we need to talk."

The joyful aura surrounding the teen quickly hid, his eyes losing their sparks, and his lips forming a small grimace. He catiously entered the dining room, looking anywhere but his father's eyes. He must have done something wrong again.

"Sit down." Fingers steepled together and pressing against his forehead, Craig's dad kept his eyes closed. Craig placed his bags on the floor and pulled the opposite chair from his dad out to sit down.

"Uh...d-did I do something wrong Dad?" His stutter became more pronounced. Inside the boy beat himself up every time a word refused to pass his lips. He hadn't had the speech impediment until he had started to become a 'trouble'.

With a sigh of pent up breath, his dad lifted his eyes to stare at his teenager.

"Craig, you didn't do anything wrong. It really annoys me that you think I'm mad at you every time we need to talk."

Craig's pale eyes drifted to the tabletop, and his hands writhed against each other on his lap.

"Anyway, let me get to the point. I have to go out of town, this afternoon. Your grandmother has fallen ill, and I need to be there with her" Craig tried to say something, but his father glared at him, and the boy's mouth snapped shut again. "As I was saying, she's sick, and I would like to be with her for her last few days. Now, I don't want you missing school. My son won't be a very good doctor one day if he never gets his education."

Craig chewed on his cheek, trying to keep any emotion from showing. He hated it when his dad mentioned anything about his future. He wanted to be an artist, whether a photographer, or musician, that's what Craig wanted. But his father had it set in his mind that Craig was going to become a doctor like him.

"So, I'm leaving you here. In charge of the house. This is a big responsibility. But I know you can handle it. And if you can't, well...we'll deal with that when I get back. Right?" His father patted him roughly on the shoulder, all Craig could do was nod in agreement.

His father stood up "Well, I have to go pack, my flight leaves in two hours. So get your homework done, and I'll give you some money for food and to rent some movies."

Craig took this as his cue to talk "T-thanks Dad, I-I really appreciate the trust your putting in m-me." His eyes shone with a dampened fear. He knew his dad was focused on his dying mother, and so wouldn't waste any time calling up the neighbors to keep an eye on Craig for him.

His dad smiled and walked out of the room. Craig watched him tread up the stairs, a grin growing on his young face. His party was going to be awesome.

* * *

He slid his tight, worn leather jacket on over his red muscle shirt. After a quick glance in the mirror to make sure all the curls were in the right places, he was ready to go.

Craig decided that no matter if his dad had talked to the neighbors or not, someone would still be curious if he decided to walk out the front door at 10 at night. So he made his way to back sliding glass door. It glided across it's frame and opened up the night sky to him. He smiled and took a deep lingering breath. The stars shone brightly and seemed to dance for him. His good mood was contagious, even the sky was celebrating.

He went through the side door to the garage and quietly rolled his bike out. After a glance in each direction, he rode out into the darkness, thoughts of a slender, pale girl invading his mind.


	3. I swear, it was just a sip

AN: kinda...i dunno...just stuff going on this chapter. next chapter will be more exciting, read and you'll see why.

* * *

"You made it! I knew you wouldn't let me down." Sean wrapped an arm around Craig's long neck and pulled him into the crowded apartment.

Some sort of generic rap blared loudly through the room and kept the beat for all those who chose to attempt to dance, while a strobe light sat lonely on the coffee table, occasionally casting an eerie glow to the whole scene.

Craig was dragged to the kitchen counter, which was littered with red plastic cups. Sean grabbed one and took a beer from the fridge to fill it. Craig stood awkwardly next to the bar stools. The air was thick and he struggled to breath it in.

Sean rushed back to him, slopping a fraction of the amber liquid from the red cup onto the linoleum. He shoved the cup into Craig's hand.

"There ya go buddy! Now go and mingle...Party!" He laughed and patted Craig's cheek with a caloused hand, then stumbled back to where he had been settled.

Craig looked down into the cup. Bubbles floated effortlessly to the top, racing each other and dying as they reached the surface. Craig could see the kitchen lights reflecting in his beer, making it seem more promising, more magical. He took a deep gulp, and scrunched his face to the unfamiliar taste. His throat tightened, but quickly relaxed as the drink put it's artificial warmth to use.

Another few swigs and the cup was empty. Craig glanced around, finding friends in various spots of the apartment's main set-up.

Spinner was amidst the throbbing crowd of untalented dancing teens. His eyes flashed with the strobe light, his whoops and hollers heard among all the others. Craig took this as a sign that Spinner hadn't taken his ridalin.

Sitting next to Sean on the worn plaid couch was Ellie, her red hair glowing brilliantly with the effects of the lights and the smoke in the air. Across from them sat a few kids that Craig had only seen a couple times. They wore all black and puffed leisurely on their cigarettes.

Not seeing Ashley anywhere, Craig sighed and refilled his cup. He drank his second cup dry just as fast as the first. His muscles relaxed and he sauntered over to the couch to sit next to Sean.

"Enjoying yourself?!" Sean yelled over the music. Craig grinned stupidly and nodded his head. His eyes stuck to the bottle of vodka in Sean's possesion. Ellie took notice and nudged Sean, casting her eyes towards Craig. Sean looked down at the bottle in his hand.

"Want some?" he held the bottle out to his friend and smiled. Craig laughed a little and took the bottle, immediatley downing a small portion of it. Sean cheered him on, encouraging him to take more, while Ellie just shook her head.

Craig pulled the bottle away from his reddened lips and burped loudly, looking shocked that he could have been so rude to burp in front of a lady. He apologized to Ellie, who stared at him without interest. Craig shrugged and took a couple more swallows of the clear alcohol before Sean took the bottle back.

The front door opened as more guests arrived. Sean looked towards the door and shouted greetings to the girl who had appeared. Her baby blues scanned the room quickly, then landed on Craig, Sean, and Ellie. She smiled and entered the apartment, closing the foor firmly behind her.

"Hey! Ashley! Glad you could make it!" Sean shouted from his couch potato position. Ashley nodded and waved a hand to signal she heard him. Craig grinned at her. Her milky skin glowed, and her raven black hair shimmered blue in the strobe light.

She smiled back shyly, then whispered something in Ellie's ear, keeping her eyes on Craig. Ellie winked and then took Sean's arm.

"Come on Sean! I want to go dance!" The buff boy looked at his girlfriend stupidly, then bounced his head up and down in agreement. They stood and left, Craig watched the bottle of vodka shrink away, gripped tightly in his friend's hand.

Ashley plopped down next to him on the now vacant couch. He whipped his head to her, eyes following the curves of her body. She blushed slightly, the tops of her cheeks and ears becoming rose. She looked at him from lowered lashes.

Craig gulped.

"Hey Ash!" He felt giddy, and confident. He wrapped an arm around the girl who had collected his feelings so completely. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was in her black ensemble. He rested his fingers on her shoulder, his calloused hands caught in the black lace that resided there.

Ashley tried subtly to scoot closer to him. A small smile played on her lips, causing Craig's stomach to tingle with fire. He could feel his heart trying to keep up with his breathing. Ashley looked around the apartment for a moment, giving Craig enough guiltless time to peer at her, then she turned back to him.

"So how long've you been here?!" She was desperately searching for some small talk ideas.

"Not too long!" They both looked forward, feeling a bit awkward. Ashley leaned closer to his ear, he could feel her cool breath flowing into the canyon of his hearing.

"Let's go someplace we can talk more privately."

Craig turned to face her quickly, but she masked her features. He nodded and grabbed tightly to her hand, leading her past the kitchen and to the hallway. They found their way to an empty bedroom.

* * *

AN: i'll try to write more, only if you guys enjoy it, and if you enjoy it, tell me, so i can write more:D


	4. But wasn't I enough?

**AN: thanks for the reviews. I really need them to keep writing this cause I have pretty much no time to waste, being a senior and getting a job is very time consuming. but your reviews make me feel like this is worth it...so here ya go!**

* * *

Craig stumbled into the dark room, Ashley's hand secure in his own. He ran his free hand along the wall, searched for the light switch. It flipped on and they both squinted their eyes to it's yellow glare. Ashley noticed a lamp on the bedside table and went to turn it on in substitute for the overhead light. Her arm pulled straight and jolted her to a stop.

She turned her head to see her fingers still intwined with Craig's. He wasn't looking at her though, his wide eyes were exploring the room, he noticed the bed and blushed. She shook her arm a little.

"Hey, I need my arm so I can go turn on the lamp." Her soft voice caught him by surprise and he jumped slightly at it, then he glanced down at their hands. His eyes became glazed as he stared at them. Ashley pulled herself back to him, tilting her head a bit so she could see under his waves of hair and into his eyes.

"Are you ok Craig?" His gray orbs traveled up her arm, noticing the sudden change of color at her sleeve. From a soft peachy glow to coal black from her lacy sleeves. Continuing up, his eyes swooped into the curve between her shoulder and neck, sending thoughts of his soft lips pressed against her virgin skin to his mind. From there he followed her neck, the smooth edge of it, up to her concerned grimace.

She noticed his gaze stop on her lips and tried hard not to gulp. Goosebumps rose across her body, making the touch of his fingers to her arm more enticing. He looked into her eyes, gray meeting blue, like a storm covering the daytime sky. He leaned in and pressed his soft lips against the silk of hers. Suddenly the lamp didn't seem so important.

Ashley moved her free hand up to rest on Craig's not yet matured face. He pulled back. Both the teens were trembling. Ashley licked her lips and tasted alcohol. Craig didn't waste any time, he lead Ashley to the bed and sat her on it, then sat beside her, hands still together.

He brought his fingertips to her jaw and traced down the side of her neck to the curve before her shoulder. Her body shivered under his touch, exciting him more. He leaned into the crook of her neck and began to plant soft kisses up and down her cool skin. Ashley leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Nothing else in the world mattered as long as his breath was on her. She pulled his face up to hers and began to kiss him hungrily.

Within a minute their seating arrangement had changed. Ashley was now laying back on the bed with Craig resting his body lightly over hers, their legs stayed side by side. As he kissed under her jaw, the stench of liquor wafted up towards her nose again. She ignored it. Even though she enjoyed the smell of it on Craig, she knew it was wrong that he was drunk. It didn't matter though. She had waited too long to be this close to him.

She slid her hand up his shirt and over his slightly defined torso, causing him to have a sharp intake of breath and to pull away from her.

"Ow! Shit, why'd you do that?!" Instantly he was fully off her and sitting up again. Ashley looked at his back in confusion, then sat up to join him.

"I'm...sorry Craig, what did I do?" her voice wavered a little. He had never yelled at her before. He turned his head away from her, ignoring her question. She laid her hands on her lap, both now unoccupied. They sat in silence for half a minute, then Craig turned back to her, his eyes hazy and hair twirling in odd directions. He leaned back in to kiss her but she pulled away, placing a hand on his chest.

"Craig...I don't know if I can do this with you if your drunk, and especially if you won't tell me what I did wrong." His expression changed to anger and he stood up away from the bed. Ashley stared down at the floor, ashamed for making him angry. She stood up next to him and placed a hand gently to his stomach, wanting to be close to him again. As soon as she applied any pressure to her hand he was back against the wall yelling at her again.

Her eyes widened in shock and fear. She couldn't understand what he was yelling, his words were slurring together and his stutter was horrible. Spit hung from one side of his mouth and his eyes were narrow slits of fury. When he stopped yelling both had tears in their eyes. Craig, seeing Ashley's watery eyes, roughly wiped his own and stormed out of the room.

Ashley stood still, shaking with sobs, biting the back of her hand to keep quiet.

* * *

Craig ran out of the bedroom and away from his embarrassment. He couldnt' believe how good it had been going in there. He liked Ashley so much, and by the way she reciprocated his touches, he assumed she felt the same way. But then she had to go and touch his mistakes, bring the pain back to the front of his mind, and remind him how horrible he was.

His anger brought heat to his face, causing the tips of his ears and cheeks to glow red. He wasn't angry at Ashley. Not one bit. He was angry at himself. He was the fuck up. Everything was his fault.

He shoved past people and headed straight towards the front door. A hand pulled him back though, right as he was about to open it. He turned to see Sean's instantly sober face.

"Dude, are you alright?"

Craig stared hard at the floor. His stomach was beginning to churn.

"I-I'm fine Sean, I just want to go." Craig tried to wrench himself free, but Sean's weightlifting had given him the advantage.

"You're not going anywhere, your hella drunk Craig. You'll stay here tonight. Now where's Ash?"

Craig turned his face away, the color rising again. His head was starting to pound.

Sean sighed and released him. "What'd you do? Is she ok?"

"She's fine, just...tell her I left ok? I'm gonna go chill in your room." he left his friend, and headed through the crowd.

Sean shook his head. Something was wrong with his best friend. Maybe he was just a bad drunk, but something told him that there was more that went to the pain in Craig Manning.

* * *

**AN: ok i wrote this in kind of a hurry, cause i wanted to please you guys:D oh, about my short sentences, I know they may not be grammatically correct, but I figure since I'm doing this for fun, the don't need to be, and I make them like that to put emphasis on certain things. But thanks for the advice. And to any who enjoy my story, please, PLEASE tell me, it really brightens my mood.**


	5. Dancing at some Vomitstained frat party

AN: finally, an update. cause i've had so much going on lately, i need to filter it out through story. i also started my job at target a month ago and now have almost no free time to write:( so please review so i feel that it's worth it.

* * *

Thunder in his brain. Lightning on his eyelids. Craig awoke to a body shot through with dull throbs.

He slowly rubbed the crust out from the corners of his eyes and opened them. Sunlight spilled joyfully across his face and caused him to squint at his surroundings.

His legs were tangled up in a sheet, his shoes rubbed against the fabric akwardly just to make the knot tighter. He groaned and sat up, his back cracking as he did so. At least that felt good, but not the bowling ball that dropped in his gut the moment he was vertical. He quickly brought a hand to his mouth and swallowed the stray vomit.

Looking around himself he realized he wasn't in his own bed, or even his room. There was a busted stereo in the corner of the yellow-walled room with a pile of cd's on top of it. A pair of boots rested next to the gaping closet.

Craig groaned from the particularly pounding pain in his head. It was time to get up and go home.

He twisted out of the sheet and stood up. Sean had a mirror next to his bed which showed Craig glamourously sporting a drowned looking afro and dark circles under his eyes. He ignored his replica and went to the door.

A wave of sour stench washed over him and he covered his nose with his sleeve. There were a few stragglers still stranded from the party, but mostly everyone was gone. Craig spotted Sean lying on the couch with Ellie nestled in the crook of his body.

"Hey, Sean", Craig nudged his buddy's shoulder, trying not to wake the girl in his arms. Sean grunted, but other than that, showed no signs of awakening. Craig sighed and went in search for a writing utensil and a scrap of paper. He left a note on the fridge saying he had left.

As his calloused hand touched the front doorknob, he remembered Ashley. How he had treated her, how drunk he had been, and how nice the fondling had felt. He sighed, and decided to see if she had slept overnight too.

Careful not to step on Spinner's unconcious smiling face, he reached the bedroom where he had taken Ashley last night. There were no windows in this room, so he couldn't see if there was anyone on the bed. He stepped into the room, not wanting to make any sound, afraid he'd wake the lump he had just noticed lying in the bed.

He tip-toed to the bedside and looked down at the sleeping form. He couldn't tell who it was. So he knelt down, and slowly peeled the blankets back from whosever's face it was.

Ashley's angelic glow greeted him. Her closed eyes the shape of full moons. The curve of her cheek complimenting the turn of her eyelashes and twists of short hair. He swallowed hard. He didn't want to wake her up, he couldn't face her right now.

A kiss to his fingers, then pressed to her cheek, and he was gone.

* * *

AN: so that's all for now. tell what you liked and didn't, just say something. 


	6. These rats are not living inside my hote...

Monday came all too soon for Craig. As he slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock for the second time, he seriously considered skipping school. His head pounded dully from the after-effects of his father's alcohol. He didn't regret sneaking into his father's liqueor cabinet, just the pain that was a direct consequence of it.

His chapped lips opened slowly and he took in a last deep breath before getting up for the day. His throat burned and the leaking from his nose was becoming very apparent. He sat up in his bed, pushing his comforter to the side and blindly snapping his bedside lamp on. The light smothered his eyes and he had to close them for a few seconds before being able to see.

His room lay around him in shambles. Empty boxes of crackers lay on the floor beside his dirty socks and pants. Half covered by one of his jackets was the bottle of bacardi rum that he had slipped from the cabinet the night before. It's not that he enjoyed drinking, he didn't like the taste of it, or even feeling drunk. It was something that he discovered at the party on Friday night, and the wealth of his discovery was that he could forget.

Drinking let him forget things. Forget the 2 AM beatings from a father who's just come home from the ER, angry to find the TV still on and the kitchen lights glaring at him. Forget the embarrassing stutter he'd developed after his mother left and remarried, leaving him to his father's never-ending accusations, and put-downs. Forget the way he had treated a beautiful girl and made her cry. He could forget everything that made him feel ashamed.

His alarm screamed out again, informing him that another five minutes had passed, and that school would be starting in twenty minutes. He pressed the little gray button on top of his clock and stood up. A draft of cold air wrapped around him and rose gooseflesh on his thin form. He rubbed his arms up and down with his hands while bouncing on his toes and searching his floor for some clean clothes.

He slid into the same pair of pants he had worn for the past three days and picked up his blue baseball jersey. After sniffing it and being satisfied that it passed the stench test, he pulled it over his head and covered the dark bruises on his stomach. He grabbed his backpack and camera bag, and sparing just enough time to grab some poptarts, he left for school.

* * *

Being late for his first class wasn't a usual thing for Craig. So as he entered the room with his eyes low and his hair dancing in different directions, he recieved many stares. Mr. Simpson asked for his attention by lightly grabbing his elbow as he walked past.

Craig looked up at his teacher with fear in his eyes, memories flooded his mind and he flinched without noticing. Mr. Simpson quickly let go of the boy's arm after seeing his reaction and leaned down slightly to be eye-level with his student.

"Craig, are you ok? You don't look so good." His eyes searched Craig's face rapidly, taking in the yellow tint of skin and red-rimmed eyes, smudged thickly with dark sleep circles. Craig's eyes went from his teacher's face to the ceiling, then back, then to the side, never able to stay fixed on one spot.

"I'm fine Mr. Simpson, I just don't feel too good this morning. I'm sorry I was late."

Mr. Simpson didn't have time to waste seeing as he was starting a new lesson with his class that period, so he dismissed Craig's sickly features and assured him that he wouldnt' be counted tardy, since he obviously was a little sick. Craig greatfully rushed to his seat, trying to escape the staring eyes. But they wouldn't leave him. They made him feel like he was two years old again and had been found in the basement playing with the 'scientist' switches as he called them, only to find out quite painfully that they were the breaker switches and he had been turning the power on and off throughout the whole house. He slumped lower in his seat, remembering the sprained wrist he had nursed around the house for three weeks after that.

Slowly, one by one, the other students began to pay attention to their teacher, realizing that the information he was sharing with them would be on their next test. Craig noticed the seat next to him was empty. Sean seemed to have taken Craig's idea and skipped school for the day.

Craig sighed and watched the curly tendrils of brown hair above his eyes writhe in his expelled breath. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

AN: Sorry it's short again. But I have school in the morning, so I can't be staying up too late. I'll try and update again in the next few days though....but only if I get some feedback:D 


	7. Comfortably Numb

Thanks so much for the nice reviews! Thanks for my continued readers and new! You guys have really inspired me to keep up on this story. So here's the next chapter! hope you enjoy.

* * *

It wasn't hard for Craig to keep his mind empty. The pounding in his skull left no room for wayword thoughts. So when he bumped into Ashley during lunch a gasp escaped him, for guilt had washed over his numb mood.

"A-Ash...hey.." His eyes searched her face quickly for anger, sadness, happiness, anything. She didn't show anything. Her pearl-white skin remained smooth. She seemed to look down on him.

"Craig."

He needed no more, he knew it was time to leave. She didnt' want him. Not anymore. He swallowed hard, trying to ingest the knot in his throat. He gave a few short nods and quickly turned away from the only person who stirred any good emotions in him anymore.

He lurched towards the exit door, trying desperately to keep his tears locked up until he was out of sight. He reached the glass door, leading to the back of the school, his escape. As his hand touched the cold, uninviting steel of the door handle, he was stopped. A gentle pressure on his right shoulder froze him, and he held his breath, wishing he wasn't interrupted because the tears were screaming to be released, making his already red eyes, more colored.

He twitched slightly, and turned around to confront whoever had stopped him.

His eyes met Ashley's. Her ocean blue seemed to wash away the oil gray of his, sweeping him off his feet. There was no anger in her expression, only pain, and concern. He quickly regained his composure and looked down to the side, awaiting an onslaught of accusations. But there was only silence. He looked back up to the girl's eyes, her tears wouldn't listen so well, and had already escaped to run down her face and drop in a weirdly, yet wonderfully artful splash of death.

"Ash, I'm-" Her soft fingers stopped his apology, she shook her head.

"Let's go outside, we need to talk."

Without a second thought, Craig opened the exit door, and followed her out.

* * *

The slightly chilled air outside felt good on Craig's burning face. He hoped Ashley couldn't see how red he was. She led them out to the front of the school where there were benches conviently placed.

They both sat down, very aware of how close they now were. Craig figured he needed to start their conversation by apologizing, or at least attempting to again.

"Ash, I want you to know that the other night was-"

"Shut up for a second Craig."

The boy's open mouth hung open, gaping like a fish out of water. But he stopped talking, and watched her take a deep breath while staring at the ground. She readied herself, then looked him square in the eye.

"I don't appreciate what you did the other night. Not at all. I don't open myself up to many people anymore, and what you did really hurt me." she took another deep breath and continued ", but I wanted you to know that I wasn't drunk, or high or anything like that, and I really wanted to...be with you. But if you were under the influence, which I know you were, but what I mean is..." she sighed heavily "If you were only acting the way you were because you were drunk, I need to know, so I can move on."

Her eyes pinned him to the spot. He felt like screaming out in agony from her stare, it cornered him, in his mind as well as on that bench in front of the school. Made him feel like a bug, like dirt. He tried to look away, taking a couple deep breaths, he finally managed it. He couldn't look her in the eye while he explained himself, he was too ashamed.

"Ashley...I w-was drunk that night, and that may have affected the way I was acting in some way" his hands crawled all over each other, fidgeting in his embarrassment ", but I want you to know that I d-do have feelings for you...you're the only person that can actually make me feel anything other than..." he stopped, his eyes widening. He had almost let her in on his secret. Had almost opened the door to a world of pain andhorrors to her, a door he wanted to keep locked from her eyes forever. He looked up at her with fear in his eyes, then quickly blinked it away.

"Ashley, I l-like you, and I'm sorry I was a jerk at the party. Please forgive me."

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, until her sweet voice pierced his ear.

"I forgive you."

Both teenagers smiled stupidly at one another. Craig tried to fend off the sweat of nervousness that was approaching him as he asked

"So would you like to go out on a date with me?"

The girl continued to grin and daintily planted a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"What a silly question to ask. Of course I would." With that she stood up and walked nimbly away, leaving Craig to soak up the wonderful feeling of actually being wanted.

* * *

AN: ok, i'm sorry it's not that long. I"m so busy with school and work and other activities, but i'll keep updating, cause you guys actually like my story! i'm so glad. Thanks!! 


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